Comments on: 80% of Al Qaeda leadership escaped Baquba before new operation began

By: volsense

volsense — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 14:31:17 +0000

One of the main reasons we will never win another war is that the military under the Clintons promoted eunuchs into positions of influence in the military and intelligence agencies. Promotions were based on political considerations rather than merit. Incompetence is rampant in all areas, because it originates in the White House and Congress.

By: shyspeak.net

shyspeak.net — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:22:59 +0000

Iraqi Security Forces Getting Better…

The Iraqi soldiers working alongside U.S. servicemen in Operation Arrowhead Ripper are demonstrating more professionalism than their predecessors. Dressed in full body armor, most carried assault rifles and some were armed with rocket-propelled grenad…

By: Kralizec

Kralizec — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:45:16 +0000

It’s not too late to start using the blueprint of WWII that was used on Germany and Japan. You have to completely destroy cities, demoralize and crush the spirit. …Peace and Islam are incompatible.

moonsbreath on June 24, 2007 at 11:09 AM

I advocate greater use of destruction, moonsbreath, but one has to choose one’s targets well. Much of the opposition to the Americans in Iraq seems (from reports) to originate in Tehran and Damascus. Much of the support for mobilization for jihad in general reportedly comes from the Saudi “royal” family, in the form of their support for Wahhabi Islam. Jihad is largely funded from oil revenues. So I advocate destruction and conquest, sure, but destruction of the remaining muslim rulers and conquest of the oil fields.

By: Kralizec

Kralizec — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:17:33 +0000

Update: The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step…

…registering for the LA Times. :-)

By: moonsbreath

moonsbreath — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:09:45 +0000

Stop moving the troops all over the damn place and start dropping bombs. I’m still waiting on the “shock & awe.”

It’s not too late to start using the blueprint of WWII that was used on Germany and Japan. You have to completely destroy cities, demoralize and crush the spirit. Instead Bush and party are too busy wanting to bring democracy to the Middle East and we all see how well that’s working in Gaza.

Peace and Islam are incompatible.

By: JM Hanes

JM Hanes — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 08:22:36 +0000

Good grief! This operation only got underway on Wednesday! I’m really tired of of people picking up little snippets from press reports with little snippets from from miscellaneous commanders and then talking like they actually know something. In the previous snippet somebody claimed AQI would stand and die, so if the top dogs do the obvious thing instead, it must be a woeful setback, right? Do you even know how many individuals “80%” of AQI’s “top leadership” represents? Do you even know how to tell one sweep from another? Do you think Petraeus is stupid enough just to make the same mistakes with more troops? Or that AQI would never have suspected a thing if only Petraeus hadn’t somehow carelessly spoiled the surprise? A pox on everybody’s houses! Sheesh/rant

By: AlexB

AlexB — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 05:48:54 +0000

Imagine how much easier it would be to counter Iran’s BS if them sending their operatives to Iraq and Afghanistan and Lebanon and who knows where else would receive 1/10th of the coverage that the US’ does.

By: pat

pat — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 04:42:37 +0000

I guess the hunt starts. That is how it works. They always leave behind something.

By: auspatriotman

auspatriotman — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 04:12:19 +0000

How the hell can this *kind* of war be won when every ficken detail is on the freeking front page of the MSM??
Its like Paris Hilton coverge? The bad guys know we’re coming. They leave. That ain’t hard.

The overwhelming reporting is killing us. What the heck ever happened to “need to know?” A farce I’m telling you. A Farce.

By: profitsbeard

profitsbeard — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:09:21 +0000

It’s like trying to hammer mercury.

If you don’t have something to catch the flying bits (never having had sufficient forces since the beginning in Iraq to secure the borders and fully man these encircling operations), you merely spread the mess.

It’s the Koran, not the zombies.

Until the ‘holy’ playbook of this lunacy is addressed, we treat the symptoms and ignore the source of the terrorist-creating ideology.

The ‘queen’ breeding these maggots is the dismal dogma.

By: Tim Burton

Tim Burton — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 23:50:25 +0000

Can they really be destroyed? Or is it similar to, say, flies at a picnic…you can use everything you have to keep them at bay, but it’s impossible to eradicate them completely. And if it’s bees, it only takes one angry bee to get through to hurt you.

JetBoy on June 23, 2007 at 3:55 PM

Nice analogy, but can you make an analogy about this, when referring to goats and an electric fence?

By: Jaibones

Jaibones — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 23:36:48 +0000

Heart-ache.

By: John from OPFOR

John from OPFOR — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 23:07:35 +0000

Petraeus is more clever than ya’ll realize. Everyone focused on Baquba, rightly so…with two full Stryker brigade combat teams doing the legwork out there, but while all attention was northeast of Baghdad, he quietly launched a series of other critical offensive operations.

Final surge elements were in place as of 15 June.

On 16 June, in addition to Arrowhead-Ripper, Petraeus launched Operation Marne Torch, Phantom Thunder, and Commando Thunder, while the aforementioned Iraqi security forces were tasked with putting the wood to the Mahdi army.

Baquba is the largest op, yes. But it ain’t the only op. This is a systematic, country wide series of operations that has been in the works for nearly a year.

By: TBinSTL

TBinSTL — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 22:28:36 +0000

Why am I not so concerned when it’s the NYT contradicting Yon and Roggio?

By: csdeven

csdeven — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 21:21:47 +0000

Why don’t we just invite them into the pentagon? This is soooo stupid!

By: Limerick

Limerick — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 21:16:24 +0000

How the hell are our sons and daughters supposed to fight this war when operations are in the papers, tv news, and blogs weeks in advance. We have been hearing about ‘pending’ operations for weeks. We do not have a need to know this stuff. Sure we all WANT to…but so what!!!??? Makes me sick. Not blaming HA…..just blaming everything…..all of it, politicos, reporters, do-gooders, and of course the ‘hate America’ crowd. Totally frustrated about this kind of crap…….our could you tell?

By: tomas

tomas — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 20:57:39 +0000

It that 20% are important leaders…how is that bad. That is very vague. In most conficts leaders aren’t the ones who stick around.

By: Zorro

Zorro — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 20:49:14 +0000

I have Faith that our guys will hunt them down and get them.

By: Theworldisnotenough

Theworldisnotenough — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 20:26:00 +0000

William Amos on June 23, 2007 at 3:51 PM

Good point.

By: Theworldisnotenough

Theworldisnotenough — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 20:20:01 +0000

Hopefully the oil deal and subsequent reconstruction gets the Iraqis more involved. Al-qaeda blowing up a newly built bridge is not going to win them any popularity contests. The current anti-AQ wave will be enhanced greatly by them bombing new construction

By: JetBoy

JetBoy — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:55:35 +0000

How we’re going to seek and destroy AQ with half these numbers when we can’t seek and destroy them now is beyond me…

Can they really be destroyed? Or is it similar to, say, flies at a picnic…you can use everything you have to keep them at bay, but it’s impossible to eradicate them completely. And if it’s bees, it only takes one angry bee to get through to hurt you.

I thought I heard the IA had increased their numbers, but I guess that was wrong…

By: Capitalist Infidel

Capitalist Infidel — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:52:17 +0000

Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr., the director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a national security think tank

In other words he doesn’t know any more than my 96 year old neighbor.

By: William Amos

William Amos — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:51:08 +0000

I will compare this to the battle of Midway analogy of the loss of many well trained Japanese Carrier pilots.

Losing 4 carriers and their experienced crews badly hurt the Japanese. So much so that in latter battles after the Guadacanal campaign they couldnt match up well with the US.

Then there came the Marianas “Turkey Shoot” where US pilots litterally were getting a 20 to 1 kill ration against japanese pilots.

That is when the Kamakazies started. The Japanese no longer could go against our pilots so they went suicide.

Yes we can kill Al Queda and they can replace the men lost with new Recruits. But these recruits are less well trained and have to rely on their fanaticism to fight. They are less dangerous over time because of the skill loss.

The same is going on in Iraq. There as been no major terrorist attack because we have killed off many of their skilled leaders and they are relying on their fanatics as a weapon of war.

So we are winning in the sense that we keep their skills from increasing. I will exchange 10 untrained Al Queda newbies for one leader who has years of experince. I call that a victory.